THE CRAFTS COUNCIL OF INDIA “...ensuring sustainability of artisans and their craft...” JANUARY 2013 REMEMBRANCE LALITHA PRASAD : 21.2.1941 TO 14.12.2012 Kasturi Gupta Menon (Reproduced below is Mrs. Menon’s moving tribute to the memory of Lalitha Prasad at a memorial meeting held recently in Hyderabad) We have gathered here today to mourn the passing away of Lalitha, who left us just a month ago today. While we are united in our collective grief over our loss, I would like to recount some of the unique qualities that characterised her and made her such an extraordinary person. Memories dwell on the richness of personal moments created by special experiences with special people. My reminiscences of Lalitha will be restricted to our mutual interaction. “When did I first meet Lalitha?” I asked myself. “Was it at the National Meet in Ahmedabad 22 years ago in February 1990, to which I had been invited by the Crafts Council of India as the then DC (Handicrafts), or was it later when I became a member of the CCI family myself? The exact moment is shrouded in a haze. But what I do remember was seeing Lalitha and her team in action in November 2006 at the international UNESCO-sponsored Natural Dye Conference which the intrepid band of CCI volunteers from Chennai had organised in Hyderabad, in partnership with their sister Council _ the CCA.P. When I arrived in Hyderabad as a delegate to the seminar 6 years back, I was overwhelmed to see the scale and magnitude of the event. It was truly an international seminar in every sense, with delegates pouring in from all over __ some from as far as South America and Africa, while others had come from Europe, Japan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Some delegates represented NGOs, others their National Governments. Several had come as “scholars” in their own right, and still others as hands-on practitioners of their traditional knowledge and techniques in natural dyeing which they had inherited. The Crafts Council of Andhra Pradesh had accommodation to reserve, events to sponsor, venues to book, and transport to arrange. Meticulous planning was needed to ensure that no slip up occurred at any stage. That the CCI (head-quarters) and the CC Andhra Pradesh members were able to work in tandem without a hitch, spoke volumes of their maturity and skills of leadership which Lalitha, as we all know, possessed in abundance. “How did you manage to organize such a huge event without a professional event manger?” I had asked her several months later in Delhi where we had met. With a smile she had replied __ “The secret lay Kasturi, in formulating small teams and delegating responsibility completely. Each team-leader was given full authority to take all decisions needed to execute their assigned task. They were to revert to me only if there was a road-block which needed my intervention.” “To tell you the truth”, she added confidingly, “we did not anticipate such vast numbers to come but I must acknowledge that each member of my Council worked tirelessly and rose to the occasion.” A smiling unruffled exterior, delegation of responsibility, and total faith in her colleagues were the qualities which defined her leadership, and which set her apart as an outstanding chapter head. In October 2008 after Ashoke passed me his baton, I had the occasion to interact with Lalitha fairly often. We met twice a year during the CCI’s National and Business meets as well as at meetings convened either by the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) or the DC (Handlooms) or occasionally even by the Planning Commission. Cluster Just before many of us present here left for our three week sojourn of China to attend the World Crafts Council Meet, she took me aside and said, “the CCA.P have decided to take on the responsibility of being the ‘implementing agency’ of a handloom ‘cluster’ under the D.C. (Handloom’s) Cluster Development Programme.” “Which cluster are you planning to adopt?”, I had queried. “Putapaka” she had replied. “It has a number of ‘Telia’ weavers, who need to be supported and sustained. Moreover, Govardhan who is also a CCAP member will be by our side to help.” I was delighted to hear of the decision, but inwardly somewhat apprehensive as well, as Government funded schemes tend to put up impediments when least expected. And as I feared, Putapaka cluster encountered its share of problems. Money was not forthcoming when needed, and when finally funds were released by Government of India (GOI), they were held back by the State Government through whom it had been routed. Lalitha asked me to accompany her to Delhi to meet the Secretary (Textiles) for help in resolving the tangle. Together we trudged the corridors of Udyog Bhavan. Lalitha wrote, cajoled and met the Government officers at every level to ensure the scheme’s successful fruition. Her commitment and zeal was total, and that is the way she was, I had observed, with whatever she handled. Kamala _ Hyderabad When it was decided in 2009 that the National Meet of 2010 would be held in Hyderabad, she came to meet me at the airport. “We will sit outside the arrival lounge for an hour or so” she said, “until Vijaya’s plane arrives from Chennai. Then we can travel back to the hotel together, where all of you will be staying.” While waiting at the airport, she mentioned that “Kamala” Hyderabad would soon be closing down. “The rent is exorbitant, and locationally we are in a disadvantages position. However when we construct our own building in Banjara Hills, we will reopen our shop again. What I will miss however,” she added with a rueful smile, “are the trips to the different artisan clusters to select merchandise for our outlet. But it would be foolish to carry on here, as our losses are mounting at a galloping rate.” I sensed her anguish over the decision they had perforce to make, but understood that given the circumstances, it would be the wisest step to take.” Temple Towards the middle of 2010 she called me up in Calcutta. “Can you buy some sitalpati mats for me?” she asked. “I cannot seem to get any in Hyderabad. I need about 20 metres for the ancestral temple I am renovating in our village, and which I have vowed to complete.” And the story of the origin of the deity in the shrine that she thereafter recounted was a fascinating and gripping tale. Conclusion Gobardhanbhai’s anguished telephone call soon after, conveying the news of her illness, came as a rude shock. Although Lalitha was cheerful throughout, I am told it was a hardfought but downhill struggle. We last met each other in August of 2012 in Chennai, very unexpectedly. “How good to see you Lalitha” I had exclaimed. “And you too Kasturi”, she had responded. Looking back, so many fleeting images come flashing by. Lalitha trying on shoes from a road-side vendor in China. Lalitha accompanying me to Lakshman Aelay’s flat in Hyderabad to help choose a painting for my son and daughter-in-law as a housewarming present. Lalitha smilingly leading the largest delegation to the World Crafts Council Meet in 2008. The list is endless. Perhaps, she would have said to us before she left, in Tagore’s words from Gitanjali, which I quote from the English translation. I have got my leave, Bid me farewell my friends. Here I give back the keys of my door, and I give up all claims to my house. I only ask for last kind words from you. We were neighbours for long, but I received more than I gave, Now the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come, I am ready for my journey, Farewell. KNOW YOUR CRAFT Ajrakh Printing Pushpa Chari According to Dr. Ismail Mohammad Khatri, ‘living legend’ practitioner of Ajrakh craft, his roots can be traced back to a 16th century ancestor who came to India from Sindh, bringing with him the craft of Ajrakh printing. Ajarkh takes its name from the Hindi phrase ‘aaj ke din rakh’ (keep it for the day. In Arabic it translates into ‘star studded sky’ which is how an indigo blue silver block printed Ajrakh cloth appears. Dr.Khatri is a ninth generation Ajrakh printer. His two sons have also been trained in the same craft. The Khatri family is based in Ajrakhpur, Kutch, Gujarat. He grew up watching the complex process of this style of block printing and would help with small jobs like drying the cloth, measuring and mixing the dyes. His actual hands-on training with the techniques began when he was 13 years old. The fourteen stages in Ajrakh printing reflect the laborious and nuanced hand skills which go into the making of this extraordinary fabric. The cloth is washed in water to remove any finish applied in the mill or workshop, soaked overnight in a solution of castor oil, soda ash and camel dung. When it is semi-dry, after being exposed to sunlight, it is returned to the solution ‘saaj’ and the drying stage is repeated 7-9 times until the cloth foams when rubbed. It is then washed in plain water. Thereafter the cloth is dyed in a cold solution of myrobalan (the powdered nut of the harde tree) and calendered, after which it is laid flat to dry in the hot sun. A resist of lime and gum arabic is printed onto the cloth to define the outline of the design.